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Keon Aldrich, president of the Pee Dee Realtor Association, said she was excited looking at the overall body of work and statistics thus far in the year.

“It’s really exciting to see how good the numbers look,” Aldrich said. “We’re really seeing growth, and it’s a great thing for the entire community.”

In June of 2018, new listings for Florence were up 8.9 percent from 2017, and the days on the market decreased from an average of 135 in June 2017 to 106 in June 2018. The inventory of homes for sale was up to 654, as opposed to just 460 in 2017, creating a 42.2 positive percent change.

“Normally you get a lot of agents saying they’re not busy during the summer, but that hasn’t been the case this year,” Aldrich said. “It’s been a busy time for the entire Pee Dee area.”

In Florence, year-to-date numbers show good signs for the future, Aldrich said.

New listings have increased from 870 in 2017 to 895 in 2018. The median sales price has increased from $157,950 to $163,800 and days on the market until sale have dipped from 139 to 120.

Closed sales were down 7.9 percent from 569 in 2017 to 524 in 2018 while percent of list price received remained almost unchanged.

“People out there are seriously considering purchasing homes,” Aldrich said. “People want to buy houses. Though that ‘closed sales’ number is a bit down from last year, that doesn’t really concern me. People are continuing to move to our area, and everything is as good as it has been in quite some time.”

In Darlington, new listings are up 4.8 percent from last year. The median sales price has increased from $92,783 in 2017 to $117,200, and the days on the market have decreased from 150 in 2017 to 138 in 2018.

“It speaks to the overall quality of houses we have on the market,” Aldrich said. “People are willing to pay more, and that also speaks to the health of our overall economy.”

Aldrich credited the growth in the Pee Dee to several things, including the downtown development in both Florence and Darlington, as well as the location of the area.

“We’re not a fast community, but we’re just right,” Aldrich said. “People are coming to retire here. I’ve found that a lot of people really like it in Florence, because it is the middle point for a lot of things. Downtown, not just residential, but also the new businesses that are coming to our area have really contributed to the growth.”

Aldrich said the outlook for the real estate market for the future looks bright and doesn’t see any reason that entire Pee Dee community won’t benefit from the continued growth.

“I think it’s going to continue to get better,” Aldrich said. “I don’t see us going back. I see growth. I love the fact that everything is changing for the better, and it’s just wonderful to see and be a part of.”

Havoc general manager Josh Resignalo, who confirmed the move to the Morning News on Thursday, said the team has signed a one-year lease with the Florence Center.

“Everything is done. I’ve got all the turf and everything moved there this past weekend,” said Resignalo, who was offensive coordinator last season but will also take over as coach after the team relocates to Florence. “Ultimately, they gave us a great deal as far as being a tenant there with our arena lease.”

The 2019 campaign will be the second overall for not only the Havoc but the league. It has a 12-game regular season, from March until June, with a two-game postseason.

The Florence Phantoms (2006-09) were the last arena team to play in Florence, winning the American Indoor Football Association championship in 2008. And in 2016, a South Carolina Ravens American Indoor Football League squad tried to gain traction in Florence. But it never came to fruition. The team is now in Charleston and part of the Supreme Indoor Football League.

The Havoc made their championship run with their home field being the Buford City Arena, in Buford, Ga.

Resignalo said the team had two other new sites to choose besides Florence: Little Rock, Ark., and Pensacola, Fla.

So why Florence?

“It’s strictly business,” Resignalo said. “They were talking about raising our rent. And going into the second year there in Buford, we had already paid quite a bit of money per game. It did not fit the business model for the owners.”

The team’s owner when last season started was former XFINITY and Truck Series driver Tim Viens. But Viens resigned midway through the season, leaving the ownership to Heath Tate, Kelli Powers and Chris Duffy. Those three remain the co-owners as the team moves to Florence.

“When the new owners assumed majority ownership of the team, they found that remaining in Buford was not necessarily the best business decision,” Resignalo said. “So for them to keep operating a team, they needed a better city to go to that’s more in line with their business model, and we felt Florence is that in all aspects for us.”

Resignalo also explained why the team agreed to just a one-year lease.

“We wanted a multiple-year lease,” Resignalo said. “But we want to get situated and make sure we’re all on the same page.”

Playing in Florence is also a treat for Resignalo, since he played against the Phantoms during the 2006 and ’07 seasons with teams based out of North Carolina. And he lives one state over.

“My home is right outside of Raleigh, N.C., in Garner,” Resignalo said. “So, it’s much closer for me to go to Florence than the other two cities we were looking at.”

The 2019 campaign will be Resignalo’s 13th overall in the league. After coaching the High Country Grizzlies in 2017, he resigned before the 2018 campaign and joined the Havoc under then-coach Gerald “Boo” Mitchell, a former Vanderbilt football star. Mitchell will remain an assistant at North Gwinnett High School, in Georgia.

Now that Resignalo will be the coach next season, as well as G.M., he thinks his team can quickly gain a lot of momentum.

“I think (being the league champion) will create a buzz in our favor in showing we’re not an expansion team,” he said. “A lot of our success in Atlanta came from the product we put on the field.”

And Resignalo thinks this team will make a bigger impact than the Phantoms did.

“It’s about our ownership group and the business model,” Resignalo said. “Arena football itself is entertainment. It’s about putting on a show, being involved with the community. On game day, it’s basically going to be a show, and then a football game breaks out.”

A youth arena football league and cheer team are among the team’s goals.

“We’d even like to start a reading program with the elementary schools,” Resignalo said. “We think if we can prove to the city and the Pee Dee area that we’re there for the right reasons, we’ll get the support we want.

“We won’t last without the support from the area.”

SCNow.com

Cottrill’s Landmark Art, at 1308 Celebration Blvd., is a family-owned custom frame shop and art gallery. The shop has now been open for a week.

The shop offers “view it before you buy it” technology in which the customers can scan their art piece or photo into a software program that will then allow them to drag and drop different frames and maps, showing them the finished product before they order it.

“We are able to frame and mat very quickly and get it back to the customer in a timely manner,” Cottrill said. “It was very important for us that prices were lower than that of what you’d normally pay and we wanted to offer the very best.”

In addition to framing and matting, the gallery showcases artwork from six artists, five of whom are local and one who is from Paris, France. Cottrill said he can also order other art pieces that may not be displayed in the gallery.

Cottrill, who was raised in Ohio, has lived in South Carolina for 19 years. As an artist, he specializes in pencil drawings of historical sites and other vintage objects. Cottrill said the idea to open a frame shop came when he and his wife, Melissa, started looking into buying their own art printers and framing equipment to avoid paying high costs when looking to sell and showcase their art.

“It was always a dream of mine to open a gallery and it just kind of evolved from there,” Cottrill said. “We began framing and printing on our own and started to do it for many other artists, as well.”

“My wife has been very involved with art,” Cottrill said. “This is definitely going to be family ran. My 23-year-old son will be one of our main framers. My wife is very techy and installed the software that we use to show our customers their product before they buy it. Our youngest is 10 years old and she is already looking forward to working here someday, but she made it clear that she will require a hefty salary.”

The store will be open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information, contact Cottrill’s Landmark Art at 843-799-0328, or visit its website at cotrillslandmarkart.com. They can also be reached via e-mail at cottrillslandmarkart@gmail.com.